Another little snippet of history. In 1896, a spate of railway accidents, mainly fatal sadly hit Blantyre. Despite this flurry of accidents in a comparatively short space of time, trespassing on the railway continued, usually by miner on their way to or from the pits.
The cross cross of railways throughout and around Blantyre usually made a good short cut. By this year, a saying had been coined about Blantyre miners.
“Show a collier the stalk, and he’ll soon find the way to the pit.”
I took the term “stalk”, meaning that part which holds everything (the railway) up, ie the many railway man made earthen railway embankments in Blantyre.
It was a saying which had a great deal of truth, for at this time, the miners were indeed accustomed to trespassing on the lines and railway wayleaves. Many of these accidents happened in poor visibility or weather conditions, which in itself may have caused the miners desire to get to work more quickly.
